It's In The Cards
by skittles84
Summary: AU The Fitch's move to a rural village for a fresh start, they move in on the opposite end of the block from the Campbell's. As the fate's align, Naomi and Emily are set on a new and winding path. Naomily.
1. The Fool

**Even though this is an AU, it's a lot different than anything I have written before (more low-key High-School story). I'm not sure how well I will do with this style and I have a feeling this might be a slow upload because I am focusing on my other story (Lost in the Waves) but I wanted to have this story going for when I hit a snag. And because I am apparently addicted to ficwriting now. Hope you enjoy.  
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Chapter 1: The Fool

Part 1

Naomi rolled over in bed and sighed; it was the start of what would be another undoubtedly boring day in the small town her mother had moved them to when she was thirteen.

"It will be wonderful love," Gina had promised. "Fresh air, sunshine, nature; the way life is meant to be lived. Not like Bristol. You'll see, you'll love it."

Naomi had waited to fall in love with the little village; and four years later it still hadn't happened. She'd barely made any friends – everyone was too young or too old or just too incompatible. The college she went to was unbelievably small; with just enough students have tightly knit little cliques, none of which seemed to have room for her. All these years later she was still 'that city girl' the outsider; rumors had immediately began buzzing. The first day of school Naomi had been in a miserable mood and it had only been made worse by one of the girls, Arcia, following her around insistently asking questions about her old town; Naomi had snapped out an irritated sarcastic comment to shut her up, which had started a never ending battle between them. By the end of the day the entire school believed that her mother had moved to their town because Naomi was a drunk, a pill junkie, and had gotten pregnant. A few weeks later new rumors had spread thanks to another girl named Mandy, who said Naomi was a lesbian and had tried to jump her in the shower room. With Arcia leading the trendy-bad-girl clique and Mandy as the ringleader of the student council; the new girl found herself with few people who were willing to risk befriending her.

At least it was summer break and Naomi wouldn't have to deal with any of her classmates for almost another month. Without college there really wasn't much for her to do; she saw little point in getting out of bed today.

"Morning sunshine!" her mother called as she bustled into the room uninvited. "Wake up love, the day's wasting."

"The absolute nothing to do will still be there tomorrow…" Naomi groaned as she stuffed her head under a pillow.

"You have to get up Naomi, we're going to meet the new neighbors." Gina insisted as she yanked the covers off of her daughter.

"MUM! I sleep naked! Fuck's sake!" her daughter yelled.

"Oh and I've never seen it before…all the more reason to get out of bed." Her mother laughed.

"They aren't neighbors, they're practically a block over…" the blonde grumbled as she pulled on a shirt.

"We can see their house from here. That makes them neighbors." Gina corrected. "The relater said they have two daughters your age…this could be your chance to get to them before Acria, Mandy, or one of their minions do…" she added hopefully.

"Mum…" Naomi sighed. "Fine."

She pulled on the cleanest pair of pants she could find on the floor and followed her mother down the stairs and into the kitchen; immediately noticing a basket of muffins on the table.

"Mum!" the blonde laughed as she rolled her eyes, "seriously?"

"What?" her mother asked.

Naomi knew it was pointless to explain how cliché a basket of muffins was; or how pointless it was to try to make any kind of first impression on the new 'neighbors'. Truth be told she loved her mother's warm streak – even if it was strange and over the top sometimes. People didn't greet newcomers with baskets of treats these days; families moving in just wanted to get settled and not be hassled but there would be no explaining to her.

"Oh that must be their car now…" Gina said excitedly from the window. "Yes it's definitely them."

Naomi fixed her hair as best she could in the hallway and threw on her shoes. "I'm not carrying the muffins." She insisted, she had to draw the line somewhere.

* * *

><p><span>Part 2<span>

Emily sat scrunched up against the window of the car; Katie had sulked next to her in the back seat the whole drive and eventually fell asleep against her. On the other side of her sister James bobbed aggressively to the music from his iPod, singing aloud some of the trashy lyrics from time to time. Their mother chattered the passenger seat about the town they were moving to - unaware of the fact that everyone else in the car had tuned her out hours ago.

"Ugh!" Katie groaned when James' flailed to the music and accidentally smacked her leg. "Little shit!" she spat as she kicked at him, causing her press harder against Emily in the process.

"Ouch" Emily gasped when her head hit the window.

"mum!" James yelled in a oh-so-innocent tone.

"Katie!" Jenna snapped from the passenger seat.

"Easy now…" Rob said from behind the wheel.

"This is stupid!" Katie huffed as she adjusted herself in the seat. "Couldn't we get a proper sized car at least? Like this whole thing doesn't totally suck enough. What?" she turned on Emily.

"Nothing…" Emily said. "…just trying to breath here."

"Then you shouldn't take up so much room." Katie huffed and crossed her arms, ready to start another bout of sulking.

Emily ignored her and stared out the window; she was happy to be leaving Bristol, they had lost the house and their parent's had found jobs at a little college in a small town. The school had even helped on the down payment to the house they were moving into. This was the way life was going to be and she was looking on the bright side; at least she wasn't leaving anyone special behind, she hadn't been dating anyone – ever. Emily supposed she could feel a little sorry for Katie; her sister was leaving three boyfriends behind, even if that made them a little less 'special someone's' and more 'a lot of fun', she could see how that would be hard for her.

"You're just mad because you're phone battery died so you had to stop sexting your boyfriends." James said and received another kick that shook the back of the car.

"I'm just mad because you're a lying little fucking perv!" his sister yelled, pulling his iPod out of his hand. "Open the window Ems!"

"mum!" James pleaded.

"Girls!" their mother moaned, rubbing the side of her head.

"We're almost there…" their father assured them all as he turned onto their new street.

Emily let out a sigh of relief as they neared a house with their moving van parked outside. It was the largest house on the street; which wasn't saying much, all the houses on the quaint little street were a miss-match of styles in different variations of small. Theirs was a moderate Victorian style home; the upside was the girls would have separate rooms with a shared bathroom, but they had been warned the rooms would be very small. Emily couldn't believe that separate rooms didn't make Katie excited – it certainly made her feel like the move was worth it. Instead Katie had become increasingly hateful towards her any time she brought it up. Men were already carrying boxes into the light blue house and her mother barely waited for the car to come to a complete stop before jumping out of the car to begin instructing them on where the boxes should go. Emily opened her door quickly, desperate to stretch her legs and put some distance between her and her sister for the first time in six hours. Katie crossed her arms, determined to make her point by refusing to leave the car and help move anything in; James pushed his door open and grabbed his music player quickly and dashed away into the house to find which room would be his. Her dad poked his head in the back seat to try to reason with her.

"It's not so bad love…" He insisted.

She turned her head away from him; her lower lip stuck out in a pout as she glared at the front yard. One of the moving men waved from the front porch and she couldn't help but smile, he was very fit and wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Fine. I guess I can go look at the house…" Katie sighed, allowing her father to open the car door for her as she stepped out and tried to flatten the wrinkles out of her miniskirt.

* * *

><p><span>Part 3<span>

"Shouldn't we give them a little more time?" Naomi said as they stopped in the doorway.

"Muffins are best when they're fresh." Her mum said as she pushed her daughter out the door.

Naomi walked slowly behind her mother as she made her way down the street; as they approached the house she began to size up the people she could see in the yard. There was a tall brunette standing by the doorway, obviously the mother, in professional style clothes giving orders sharply to the moving men. _Control Freak_ Naomi thought; she could tell right away the woman wasn't anything like her mother, who had made lemonade for their moving men, there was something in the way the dark haired woman held herself that told the blonde girl that she was a harsh.

_Princess_ she assessed when her eyes landed on Katie, who was flirting with a dark haired moving man, a school-girl smile on her face as she giggled and played with her dark red hair. Naomi was sure she would have no luck with this girl; it was obvious that she was destined to be one of Arcia's little fan-girls. A young boy came rushing past the girl and she slyly stuck out her foot to trip him. The blonde's jaw dropped – if nothing else maybe this girl would give her nemesis a run for her money.

Naomi watched as the blonde boy rolled on the porch, angling his head up his sister's short shirt. Her mother and her were close enough to hear him yell. "You're not wearing any panties bitch!" He received a hard kick and crawled away towards his mother. _Perv_, she decided easily, feeling very glad that she had chosen to wear pants today.

A tall muscular man carrying an armload of boxes stopped in the doorway to give the brunette woman a kiss before disappearing into the house. He was back out quickly and immediately noticed the two blondes standing on the sidewalk and waved, a genuine smile spread across his face. He bellowed a hello to them and jogged down the stairs to meet them, he talked excitedly and loud. _Intense_, Naomi thought, _but nice_.

"Jenna look! The neighbors are here with sweets." Rob called, holding up the basket and motioning for his wife to join them.

"Oh thank you so much." Jenna said, walking to the steps but not coming down to meet them for fear she would lose control of the movers.

"It was no trouble. Just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." Gina said with a wave.

"I think they have the couch in the front room already if you want to come in." the muscular man offered. "I'm Rob, that's my daughter Katie, and the boy over there is James. Emily's in the house somewhere."

"Don't be silly!" the blonde woman laughed, "We can't just sit around while you're moving, we'll help." She nudged her daughter. "Naomi, introduce yourself to Katie and offer to help."

"mum…" the blonde said weakly, it wasn't that she was unwilling to help, she didn't know these people and if some girl came up to her offering to help her move boxes her first thought would be that they wanted to snoop through her things.

Her mother gave her a pleading look and Naomi rolled her eyes and made her way over to Katie, who had followed the shirtless boy to the back of the truck. He stood there holding a box marked Emily-Fragile but was obviously distracted by the redhead at his side.

"Hi…I'm Naomi…I live down the street…my mum sent me over to help…" she said as cheerfully as she could muster, which wasn't very cheerful at all.

"Naomi?" Katie snorted and then checked herself. "Oh, yeah…I'm Katie."

"My name's Tony." The dark haired mover said with a cocky smile as he eyed the blonde.

The redhead obviously didn't like the attention the blonde was getting and her eyes narrowed jealously.

"…yeah…" Naomi said, rolling her eyes at the guy's come-on. "So…is there anything I can do to help?" she asked the girl.

Not only was the guy flirting with both of them but the blonde was pulling the too-hot-to-care tactic? Katie grabbed the box quickly out of his hands and pushed it into Naomi's arms. "Yeah, take this up to my sister, will you? She's in there somewhere. Tell her to get her lazy ass out here and help, I can't do everything myself."

The redhead resumed talking to the handsome guy, leaving Naomi bite her tongue as she turned to carry the box inside. _Bitch_, she reassessed as she walked up the stairs.

"Emily?" she asked the brunette at the door.

"Oh her room is up the stairs, all the way to the back on the right." Jenna answered without really looking at her.

Gina had followed Naomi up the stairs and was trying to make polite conversation with the brunette with little luck.

"I'm sorry I'm not better company right now, but you know how it is, if you want anything done right you have to oversee every detail." Jenna was saying.

As Naomi started up the stairs she heard her mother say something about lemonade and stifled a laugh – knowing her mother was headed home to make drinks for everyone. She reached the top of the stairs and headed slowly down the back hall, the last door on the right was slightly ajar and she nudged it open silently with her foot. A girl with the brightest red hair she had ever seen lay sprawled on the floor of the room with her eyes shut. A strange feeling traveled through the blonde as she watched the girl, who she assumed, was Emily. The girl was smiling and humming a tune to herself that Naomi didn't recognize.

"Shit!" the girl screamed when she opened her eyes to see a blonde girl holding a cardboard box in the doorway. "Sorry…didn't see you there…"

"Most people don't when they have their eyes closed." Naomi laughed with a smile.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment; the redhead sitting on the floor unable to take her eyes off the stunning blonde and the blue eyed girl shifting uncomfortably as her mind came up blank while she tried to slap a label on the brown eyed girl.

"So…uh…where do you want this?" Naomi broke the silence.

"Oh!" Emily sprang up to take the box, placing it gently by a pile of boxes in the corner. "Shit…sorry…uh…thanks for bringing that in…I'm Emily."

"I'm Naomi." The blonde said. "I live down the street…it's the brown stone building. My mum and I came over to say welcome to the neighborhood…" she finished, making a face that clearly said it wasn't her idea.

"Thanks." The brown eyed girl said, still staring at the other girl.

"Well…I'd better go…mum's probably trying to carry a gallon of lemonade over by herself…" Naomi laughed as she backed out of the room.

"Yeah." Emily said, blushing a little, "thanks again! See you soon…" her brain felt numb and unable to come up with anything better to say.

"Ok…" the blonde laughed as she left the room and made her way back outside and down the street.

Emily sat down next to the boxes and sighed; less than an hour in their new home and she had already embarrassed herself in front of possibly the most beautiful girl she had ever met. Maybe life wasn't going to change after all; her luck was going to stay the same forever it seemed, but at least she could be unlucky in her own room with a little privacy for once. She turned to see which boxes had already made their way out of the truck and let out an embarrassed cry; the box the girl had carried in for her was the very one she had packed her secret wooden box in. Even though there was no way for Naomi to have known that, the redhead was completely mortified.

Naomi tried to shake the strange feeling growing in the pit of her stomach as she made her way back into the kitchen. Her mother stood at the table squeezing lemons over a pitcher. Gina looked up and sighed at the look on her daughter's face.

"Don't judge them already Naomi." She said with another sigh.

She knew her daughter had a tendency to make snap judgments; and those judgments, she felt, robbed her of the chance to make friends.

"Please tell me you didn't slap a label on all of them already." Her mother said hopefully.

"No…" Naomi groaned, rolling her eyes. Her mind still racing to find a place to fit the girl named Emily.

"Good." Gina said brightly. "This is a new town for them, a new house, new everything. And it just might be a path to something new for you too…I just don't want to see you get in your own way like you sometimes do…"

"mum…" the girl pleaded.

"Get me the sugar will you dear?" her mother said instead of _you know you do that_.

"Sure." Naomi sighed.


	2. The Magician

***I don't own any characters of anything...yet...**

Chapter 2: The Magician

Part 1

"You have to be kidding me," Naomi said as she tossed the flyer her mother had handed her down on the kitchen table. "Pottery class mum? Really?"

"Naomi there's only three weeks left before college starts back up. It'll be nice to do something together, and Jenna says the twins are going to do it as well," Her mother insisted with a begging look on her face. "Please…for me…"

The blonde girl really didn't find the idea of making ash-trays and bowls out of a chunk of mud fun. A mother daughter ceramics class just struck her as a bit too hallmark-card for her tastes. As she tried to piece together an excuse to get her out of it, her mother fixed her with her patented _but_ _you __love __me_ look; Naomi rolled her eyes.

"I only have one more year before you fly the nest and I'll never see you again I'm sure…" Gina added.

"mum…" She sighed "…fine, I could use an ash-tray…"

"I love you," Her mother chirped as she planted a light kiss on the girl's forehead. "I've been looking forward to this for a while; a chance to get out some creative energy. Tonight at five o'clock."

"Should we go now? I wouldn't want to be late," The blonde said sarcastically as she headed to her room.

She already regretted giving in, but she figured she owed her mum one craft activity for the year; her flighty mother had already begged her to come along to book club, a cooking class, a floral arrangement seminar, folk-art lectures, and the list had continued on all summer long. Maybe if she gave in, her mother would be satisfied for a while, and if not, then she could always bring up pottery class. The blonde tossed herself down on the bed and gazed at the ceiling—that fluttering feeling was starting in her stomach again and it irritated her. She hadn't seen the Fitch's since last week when she helped them move in; though she was pretty sure she had seen the boy sneaking around outside her house a few times.

Naomi lit a cigarette and blew the smoke up at the ceiling, watching the smoke make swirling patterns above her. She fidgeted with the lighter; she could hear her mother on the phone downstairs and assumed Gina must be inviting more people to the ceramics class. The blonde sighed and made her way to the mirror to start putting on her make-up.

"Naomi," Gina said as she bustled into the room without knocking again.

"Knock!" the girl snapped.

Her mother took a few steps back and knocked on the still open bedroom door. Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Come in," she said sarcastically.

"The Fitch ladies are going to come back with us after the class for snacks," Her mother said before leaving the room.

Naomi stood there with her jaw hanging open. "MUM!" she yelled and got no reply.

"Fuck." She sighed to herself and looked around the room.

_She __invited __them_, the blonde thought, so _she __can __entertain __them. __It__'__s __not __like__ they__ will__ actually__ make __it__ out__ of__ the__ kitchen__ and __up__ to __my__ room_. She definitely wasn't going to invite them up; her room was private, except for her mum busting in sometimes and she really didn't like having anyone else in her room. _We__'__ll __just __stay__ in__ the__ kitchen __and__ living __room_. Her eyes scanned the little spot of the world that she could call her own—after fifteen minutes she began to clean.

* * *

><p><span>Part 2<span>

Everyone around the dinner table was uncomfortably silent; Jenna sat at the end of the table with a stern look on her face.

"You see, the thing is…" the mother began.

"I'm not going," Katie interrupted. "Seriously mum, I have to live in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of hicks, but I'm not going with you to play with mud. It's not happening. No." Her mind raced at what her best friend from back home, Effy, would say if she saw Katie in a craft class of any kind. "I think I'm suffering enough…don't you? I mean, there's nothing here…" she added.

"Katie," her mother pleaded smoothly. "It's politics; I'm going to be teaching at the college, and there will be parents at this thing most likely. Now how would it look for me to show up there without my girls? It will look bad on me, and it will look bad on all of us. Isn't that right dear?" she addressed Rob.

"Fitch's aren't afraid to get their hands dirty love," he agreed. "The Fitch women, working together—you'll be the best there."

Emily ate silently; she really wanted to go, but if Katie didn't go then she wouldn't want to let Emily go either. She had been so excited to get just a little space away from her sister, to feel like she had some form of privacy, but so far it hadn't worked out that way. Katie was constantly in her room, commenting on or flat out changing the layout of the room. If not that, she was pulling Emily back into her room to help set up this or look at these clothes and in general any excuse she could come up with.

"And the guy running it…fine lad; he works at the auto shop part time too…met him yesterday," Rob continued. "Adam, I think…right?"

That gave Emily an idea; she excused herself from the table and pulled the flyer off the fridge. Katie was still complaining loudly about the whole idea of going was not cool and would scar her for life. She timidly handed the brightly colored paper to her sister.

"What?" Katie huffed as she looked at the flyer, not bothering to read it; her eyes fell on the picture of the man who would be teaching the class. "…fine, if it means so much to you then I'll go…" she decided out loud, trying hard to keep a fake pout on her face.

"Wonderful dear." Jenna smiled broadly.

"We will make matching…somethings…whatever you make in these things, Ems," Katie said brightly, her mood suddenly improved now that she knew the man teaching the class was ruggedly handsome.

"Pottery," Emily said.

"Whatever…better go pick out clothes and get ready," Her sister said, shooing her away from the table and pulling her up the stairs.

* * *

><p><span>Part 3<span>

Emily could never get used to the sight of her mother in a t-shirt; it was just unnatural because, even in the casual clothes and her brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail, Jenna still exuded a _no__ funny__ business_ vibe. Katie had, of course, put on some of Emily's best clothes—insisting, once again, that they looked better on her and after all, going to this thing was her idea in the first place. She had managed to let Emily select her own outfit for the evening—

modest green striped tank-top and comfortable shorts—without too much protest.

The small workshop was surprisingly crowded, but the front row was shockingly empty and Katie had wasted no time in taking the center seat. The walls and shelves of the room were filled with other people's projects: bowls, vases, decorative wall plaques, even a bong tucked away in a cubby labeled J.C. The class leader's work was displayed along the wall they were facing. Much of his work seemed to be drawn from gory horror films or books; the gruesome designs etched into the side of large purposefully misshapen pots and clay masks of famous horror movie creatures. Katie adjusted herself as their instructor entered.

"Hi, I'm Adam Stubbs," he introduced himself. "I'm American, but don't hold that against me; I'm trying to get over it." He added with a laugh. "Thank you all for coming to this free class. If you have fun tonight maybe you'll want to join the once a week class I run here. So…let's get down to some basics…"

"Sorry! We're a bit late," Gina apologized as she pulled her daughter through the crowed room. "A bit of car trouble…ah, there…" she said as she nudged Naomi into the spot next to Emily as she took the potter's wheel at the end of the row.

Adam took them quickly through the basics of selecting clay and properly kneading it into a workable ball before instructing them to return to their potting wheels. They all discovered quickly why the front row had been empty; as the teacher's wheel began to spin the five women were lightly sprayed with flecks of clay. Katie shuddered and Emily let out a small giggle; Naomi smiled to herself at both of their reactions and tried not to look at the girl next to her while she fidgeted with the lump of clay in her hands.

"Normally I let everyone work on whatever they feel like," Adam said with a gesture to around the room. "But since we are limited on time, we will be making a simple bowl."

The room hummed with the sound of the simple machines as the class tried to follow the American's instructions. Some of the students groaned as their bowl rims collapsed on their first or second tries and had to start over again.

"I don't seem to be getting this right…" Katie said, batting her eyes while her overly wet lump of clay rotated in front of her, obviously angling for some personal assistance from the instructor.

"Sure…anyone having trouble take a break and come on up to get a closer look…" he said casually.

Naomi, to her own surprise, wasn't having any trouble; the clay rose smoothly in her hands to form a decent rim to the bowl. The hum of the machine seemed to drown everything out and she felt a little hypnotized by the swirling clay in front of her. She was shocked out of her serene state when a large daub of clay splattered her cheek.

"Shit! Sorry…" Emily apologized in a husky voice. "So sorry…" she said again.

The side of the redhead's bowl and split down the side, sending dollops of clay flying in all directions. Her face and tank-top were spotted with the red mud droplets. Naomi laughed, finding it hard to be irritated for the first time in a long time, and shrugged.

"Don't worry about it," she said, feeling a little jump in her stomach as the husky voiced girl smiled at her.

"You're really good at this," Emily said. "I was hoping I would be, but obviously…not…"

"No…" Naomi found herself saying, "…it's…very abstract modern art…that's all…"

The redhead laughed again as she tried to wipe the clay from her face with the back of her hand, only to smear more of the red muck across her chin. The blonde laughed and shook her head, trying to dislodge the lump from her own cheek.

"Here…let me get that…" Emily said, reaching out to brush the chunk loose.

"Thanks…" Naomi said. She didn't know why she was beginning to blush; her cheek tingled where the other girl had touched it and she turned her attention quickly back to the bowl.

"Sorry…your top's a bit…ruined now…" Katie said in a tone that didn't seem apologetic at all as she sat back down by her sister. "I think we should take this class."

"Really?" her sister asked.

"Well yeah…obviously!" the dominate twin said with a nod to the teacher.

"You should join too," Emily said to Naomi.

"…I don't know…" the blonde said.

"Well it's not for everyone Ems," Katie quickly interrupted. "I mean I'm sure…Naomi?" She paused. "…wouldn't be interested."

Naomi couldn't resist the urge to irritate the shallow girl. "mum…do you think I should take the weekly class?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course! That would be great!" Gina answered excitedly. "It's just a shame I can't because of work…see, I told you it would be fun. You should start listening to your old mum."

The blonde fixed the darker haired redhead with a confidant stare; Katie did her best to look uninterested in the whole situation and turned her attention back to the man who was instructing the class on how to safely remove the bowls from the wheels. When the class was over Katie made sure her name was at the top of the new participants list—and Naomi determinedly added her name directly below it.

Emily sat quietly in the car as her mother drove them to the Campbell's house, thinking to herself about the blonde and the fact that she would be seeing her for sure at least once a week. She couldn't get Naomi's blue eyes out of her mind and thanked her lucky stars that the girl didn't seem to hate her at least. Then, as she did on rare occasions, she found herself praying to any god that would listen that she didn't somehow embarrass herself in front the absolutely gorgeous girl.

**Ok so Adam Stubbs I pulled from a movie called May. It's not really important, just needed a rough-but-creative character and he fits the bill. I'm not trying to make a big statement with the American thing; so I hope that didn't offend anyone or sound wrong.  
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**People really seem to want me to update this one and I don't know how fast I will be able to do that since of course this is the story I am least prepared on. LOL Still, thanks so much for all the reviews so far! I was absolutely shocked to see that anyone was actually interested in this story. **

**Honestly, I'm always shocked when anyone reads past the first chapter of anything I write. LOL Writers curse?  
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	3. The High Priestess

**Chapters have been properly mum'ed**** I believe, ^_^ Sorry this story is taking longer than normal; I'm writing two (which I know other people do more at a time but...I'm used to focusing on one at a time). Hope this one is enjoyable. **

Chapter 3: The High Priestess

Part 1

Last year Emily had learned her lesson about leaving her clothes out on the first day of school; so this year she had them selected and safely hidden in the back of her closet. The shared bathroom, however, was an insurmountable obstacle and she was still left to muddle through a totally wrecked bathroom with no running water left available. She tried not to let the cold shower dampen her mood; she got dressed and grabbed her backpack. As she watched her sister round the corner on the back of Adam's motorcycle, she slid into the seat of her orange moped, delighting in the idea of a lone ride and the hope of seeing Naomi in class. Even though they were friendly in the weekly pottery workshops and the blonde always greeted her on the street, she had never been invited over; the other girl seemed to have an invisible wall between them at all times—except when they were at their wheels working with clay. The redhead sighed as she began her ride to college; perhaps she could see more of the unguarded side of Naomi if they had some classes together.

By the time she arrived, Katie had obviously already made a stir at the new school; everyone she met did a double take—which made her instantly self-conscious. She knew she should be used to this kind of thing by now, the curse of being the second of the twins in a room, but her immediate thoughts always jumped to _is__ there __something __on __my__ face_ and made her nervous. The redhead couldn't believe how different this college was from Roundview; aside from the size, the decor was homier and less sterile. Even the sound of it was different; instead of the deafening roar of students there was more of a buzz of excitement. There was also no mass assembly, only signs directing new students to the main office to pick up their class lists and rule books. Emily scanned the lawn for any sign of Naomi but saw none; she squeezed her way through the double doors and checked the hallway. For a moment she was sure the she saw the blonde turn a corner and tried to catch up with her.

"Ems!" Katie said as she stepped out in front of her. "It's so stupid; we don't have any of the same classes!"

"How do you know?" Emily asked.

"I looked…" her sister replied with a_ don__'__t __be __dense_ look. "Cow at the desk didn't want me to but come on…like it's a big secret…"

"Yeah…" Emily said distractedly, holding her hand out for her papers.

"What?" Katie said, looking at her sister's hand.

"My list?" the brighter haired sister asked.

"It's in there," her sister said. "What? You wanted to do stuff on your own right?"

She'd gotten a lot of comments like that from her sister lately; it was easy enough to brush off— it wasn't like it was much different than the way Katie had always been with her.

"Ok. Well I'll see you at lunch then I guess?" Emily said.

"But there are people you have to meet," her sister pouted.

As Katie turned to call people over, Emily took her chance to make a dash for the main office. Her first class was Sketch Art, and it started in twenty minutes; luckily the college was too small for it to take her long to get there, but she would have to maneuver the halls carefully to avoid her sister. She made it to class with a little over five minutes to spare and took a seat quickly in the back; she closed her eyes and caught her breath.

"Him" a girl said from two seats away. "You must be one of the Fitch girls. I'm Sophia."

"Hi." Emily smiled. "I'm Emily."

The dark haired girl quickly moved from her seat and took the chair next to her as the last few students wandered in. The girl seemed a little intense; she was obviously athletic, but unlike most sports girls, she seemed shy and awkward. Still, Emily had never been the kind of girl to judge a person on the spot so she wasn't going to start now. Sophia chatted away for the remaining minutes before the teacher began to settle the class and begin the introductions; the dark haired girl became suddenly silent and attentive.

"Where to next?" Sophia asked when the class had ended.

"Um….Creative Expression…?" Emily said huskily. "What exactly is that?"

"Oh, it's a writing class! I have it too!" the other girl said excitedly, grabbing the redhead's hand and pulling her down the hall.

"We have time…we're not late…" Emily panted as she tried once again to check the hall for Naomi.

"Just want to be sure we get seats together again," the dark haired girl insisted as they entered the room. "…unless you're sick of me…" she added a little self consciously.

Emily shook her head no and allowed herself to be led to a couple of seats by a large window. Sophia resumed her game of twenty questions and Emily answered her absentmindedly as she watched the door. Eventually the teacher entered, took a head count, and locked the door. Once the teacher had explained the basics of the class Emily smiled to herself; she had been hoping she would have a writing class of some sort and this one seemed perfect—a free for all of creative expression, as the teacher described it. Her new friend seemed a little less interested in it as she sketched along the margin of her notebook and whispered comments to the redhead from time to time.

When the class was over, the two girls parted ways, each of them having different classes.

"See you after lunch…or at lunch…or…you know…" Sophia said as she shuffled of to her next class.

Emily didn't see the other girl at lunch; though she didn't really think she would have a chance to any way since the moment Katie saw her, she pulled her instantly into introductions to the _worth__ knowing_ people in the school. Lunch period had flown by in a blur of fake smiles and vapid conversation and she was glad to be free when the bell rang. Emily had all but given up hope of finding Naomi today. How could someone as distinct as the blonde was be so hard to find in such a small place? The redhead almost let out a squeal of joy when she entered the Philosophy room and saw that the blonde was there. She hurried over to the seat next to her and sat down.

* * *

><p><span>Part 2<span>

Gina parked the car outside the college and waited for her daughter to make a move for the door. "You're going to be late…"

Naomi steadied her nerves as she looked across the lawn at the swarm of classmates she dreaded seeing again. She sighed and got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her, and prepared herself—mentally testing the wall she had built around herself for the past few years for any weaknesses.

"I love you too," her mum called from the car.

"Yeah…" Naomi said. "I love you too…"

She skirted the main entrance and made her way around the side of the building. She passed the bike rack and recognized the orange moped that belonged to her neighbor. Naomi shook her head as she found herself looking around for the redhead.

"Hey Blondie!" a loud voice called, causing her to jump.

"Hey Cook," she said in and irritated voice as she hid a smile.

Despite the fact that he was loud, arrogant, and constantly trying to get into her pants, Cook was the only friend she had in the school, or the closest thing to a friend. He was the only one who was just as much of an outcast as she was; he was the resident _bad__-seed_ and she suspected he had begun talking to her simply because the boy seemed to love self destruction.

"You didn't call me all summer! I'm hurt," he said in a mock tone.

The blonde girl wasn't sure he was capable of being hurt; he certainly didn't act like it.

"That's because I wanted to enjoy my summer," she teased.

"And how could you do that without a bit of the ol' Cookie?" he joked back as he ruffled her hair and pulled her inside.

"Fuck, Cook!" Naomi snapped, trying to flatten her hair back down. "Stop doing that!"

"Come on, Blondie! You've got to see this!" he said, pulling her down the hallway, bumping them into fellow students the whole way.

He stopped in front of one of the classrooms and pushed the door open then stood back with a proud look on his face.

"You found a classroom. Great…congratulations," the blonde said, rubbing her shoulder that had grazed a few of the lockers in their mad dash down the hall.

"Look inside! I've got the new Home Necessities teacher already! Just look…yeah?" he said pushing her into the room.

"Oh my god, Cook!" Naomi shouted as she ran back out of the room quickly. "You'll be suspended on the first day."

The room was completely ransacked; tables overturned, papers strewn across the floor, the blackboard had a rather detailed depiction of a woman giving a blowjob chalked across it, and there was a pile of what the girl hoped was only mud smeared across the front desk.

"I know! Personal record," Cook said proudly as he pulled the door shut again.

"I'm not going to be anywhere near you when they find this," the girl said as she backed down the hall.

"Oi! They shouldn't have put me in a fuckin' girl's class…not if they didn't want their dollies undisturbed…" the sandy haired boy protested as he followed her down the hall.

Naomi shushed him; even if he did get under her skin, she didn't want the only person in college that would speak to her to be kicked out. She counted herself lucky not to be taking that particular class this year as she turned into the room she would be having her first class in. Cook stood in the doorway as she took a seat.

"You're not even going to watch?" he whined.

"Nope," she answered. "Bye Cookie."

The rest of the class filed in and the seats around her remained empty; her invisible barrier did its job as the room filled with students and her table remained empty. At least the excitement of two new students kept there from being any whispers and glare—instead there was only a sense that the table she had chosen was on a different plain of existence. Her first two classes passed quickly and she breathed a sigh of relief as she headed to her last subject before lunch, but her luck quickly turned as she entered her Geometry class to see both Arcia and Mandy at the same table. That in itself was an oddity; the only thing the two girls had in common was their hatred for the blonde, but the reason was apparent. Katie sat between the two girls as they both seemed to bid for her attention; Naomi held her breath as she slid into the seat farthest to the back. At least for today neither of her enemies noticed her; it wasn't that she was afraid of a fight, she could hold her own against both of them, she was simply so sick of it all.

When the teacher dismissed class, she left as quickly as possible and headed outside, pulling out the lunch her mother had packed. Cook found her in their usual spot under the bleachers and dropped his lunch tray loudly beside her.

"So you're still here?" She asked.

He just shrugged. "Couldn't prove a thing…I mean they know, yeah, but they can't actually prove it…all three of us boys in the class have clean up duty."

"And that would be why you're nose is bloody?" Naomi pointed out; obviously the other boys had to know it was Cook that had done all the damage.

"Detention with the new coach," he said as he spat out a little blood. "Just me though…" he added proudly, indicating the other boys were worse for the fight.

"Good job," she said sarcastically. "Just so you know…your Home Necessities' teacher is the new coach's wife."

"Fuckin' shit!" Cook exclaimed.

"You have fun with that," Naomi said. She ruffled his hair as she got up to head to her next class.

Once again, the room filled around her and her parallel universe; she was already beginning to zone out—Philosophy seemed like such a pointless class. She jumped when she sensed that her barrier had been infiltrated and she prepared to fire off a snappy come back to whatever the intruder was going to say.

* * *

><p><span>Part 3<span>

"Hi! I've been looking for you all day!" a husky voice said.

Naomi turned her head quickly, smiling at the redhead despite herself. "Hi."

"I'm glad we have at least one class together. I didn't think I'd ever find you," Emily said.

"Well here I am," The blonde said casually.

"Hi Emily," a dark haired girl said, taking the seat on the other side of the redhead.

"Oh...hi Sophia…" Emily answered. "Do you know Naomi?"

"…not really…" Sophia answered, eying the blonde uncertainly. "I mean…we haven't had classes together...or…" she fell silent.

Sophia was one of those invisible girls; Naomi had never had problems with her, it was just that she was one of her classmates that didn't want risk losing any more or their already scarce popularity by talking to her.

"It's ok…you don't have to talk to me," the blonde assured her without making eye contact.

"Why wouldn't she speak to you?" the redhead asked.

"No reason." Naomi sighed.

Sophia looked away for a few minutes. "Nice to meet you, Naomi," she finally said.

Emily looked back and forth between the two girls, desperately wanting to ask what was going on.

"Everyone shut up and we will get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible," The teacher grunted from the front of the room. "So we are going to be studying religions and philosophy; by the end of the year you will all give a speech about your answer to all this bullshit. But just to make it more interesting, you'll be paired into two person groups so you can battle it out…"

Naomi's hand shot up.

"Oh Christ, and overachiever." Kieran sighed. "Yes, what is it?"

"So can I just skip all this if I already know there is nothing out there and no reason for all this?" the blonde asked.

"Nope…you'll just have to sit with your thumbs up you're arse and wait to tell us all about it at the end of the year," the teacher replied. "But it was worth a try…"

After more swearing and sarcasm from the teacher, Naomi was pretty sure she would like this class after all. Eventually the pairs were named off at random. Emily sighed and smiled to herself when he placed her with her blonde neighbor, and to her surprise, Naomi gave her a quick smile too. When the class was over, the redhead was sorry to discover that they didn't have any more classes together; she waited on the lawn when the day was over and waved Naomi over when she saw her come out of the building.

"Hey," the redhead said warmly.

The blonde nodded as she checked her phone for service only to see that her mother had left a voice-mail saying the car had broken down once again.

"Great…" she sighed as she shut her phone. "Looks like I'm walking."

"You can get a ride with me…" Emily offered.

"Are you sure?" Naomi asked, eying the moped skeptically.

"Sure, it's no problem," the brown eyed girl insisted. "So…do you really think there is nothing out there? Like you said in class?"

"I don't know," The blonde said honestly. "Should there be?"

"…I don't know…" Emily admitted; she would like to think there was at least a point to life, but damned if she knew what it was.

Naomi carefully climbed behind her on the bike and nervously wrapped her arms around the girl in front of her, trying to find a way to hold on while still keeping her distance, and closed her eyes as the wind rushed through her hair. _Who__ knows_ she thought _there__'__s__ no__ reason__ there__ can__'__t __be__ something __out __there_.

**Well, there it is...another chapter. Let me know what you think of it if you have the time.**


	4. The Empress

**Hope it's not a disappointment; kind of had trouble with the writing on this chapter. I have been in serious danger of not writing so I made myself finish this chapter up to keep myself going.  
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Chapter 4: The Empress

Part 1

Katie huffed as she stood next to Emily's bed; it was Monday and her sister had been sick with the flu since Friday and she had missed two parties over the weekend because their mother was sure that she might come down with the virus any second.

"Come off it you faker." Katie whined. "You have to be better by now."

"I'm really not…" Emily wheezed.

She felt like crap and truly wished that she felt well enough to go get up and go to school; she sat up and her head throbbed angrily. Her sister rolled her eyes at the miserable look on the sick girl's face.

"Fine…I'll just carry all your homework home again like I'm your servant." The older twin huffed.

Emily laughed, which hurt a little, and rested back on the pillow. "Well…if it's not too much to as,k could you take my half of the philosophy assignment to Naomi? She might need to turn it in today…"

"You didn't ask them to switch partners?" her sister snapped harshly. "I told you what Arcia said! You were supposed to switch with someone."

"Naomi is my friend," the sick girl pleaded. "I don't care what Arcia thinks."

"Yes you do," Katie insisted. "I don't get what you see in her anyway. You're freakish little friendship is ruining our reputation. People are going to start calling you a lezzer!"

"Oh is that was the brilliant Arcia thinks?" Emily spat. "I don't care! You have your friends and I have mine so just leave it."

Katie sat on the edge of the bed, looking away from her sister in a way that made it clear she might be going to cry a little. Emily had no real way of knowing if they would be real tears or not, but she couldn't help but feel a little bad about it already on top of being sick. She knew Katie wanted to spend more time together, but it would always be an unfair split—aside from the ceramics workshop, she wasn't willing to do anything Emily wanted to do.

"We never had separate friends in Bristol. I hate it here and you won't help me. You're just like fuck off Katie and who cares if you're making me look bad." Her sister sighed. "What do you have against Arcia anyway? She's one of the few almost cool people in this stupid little shit-hole—and you won't even go to a party with me."

"Fine! When I'm better I'll go to a party with you." Emily sighed. "And I'm not all like fuck off Katie; we just like different people. It's not the end of the world you know—you could try getting to know my friends too…what do you have against Naomi?"

"Good, it's settled; you'll go to the next party with me. You'll love it!" Katie said happily as she gave her sister a pat on the head and scurried out the door and down the stairs.

"You left my papers!" Emily tried to call after here, but it was too late.

The redhead hobbled out of the bed and into the bathroom. In the past few months school had been an odd mix of good and bad; she was enjoying her classes and was becoming fast friends with Naomi, Cook, and Sophia—though the dark haired girl never spent time with her when the other two were around. Katie, on the other hand, was drifting between Arcia's clique and Mandy's group, all the while trying to pull Emily along with her into the in-crowds. Her sister had always been demanding and a little controlling, but recently she was turning a little more passive aggressive and possessive, stealing her sister away every chance she got, or openly bashing whoever she happened to be talking while they were in earshot. The more timid twin was at a loss; she loved her sister, but she just wanted to find her own place in the school.

"Why can't I just feel better already?" she asked the mirror. Emily pulled the medicine cabinet open only to find they were out of her prescription. "Lovely."

She drank a glass of water and wobbled back to bed hoping to fall asleep again, but she couldn't. She wondered if Naomi would be in trouble without her part of the assignment and when she would be well enough to see her again. The redhead sighed; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her feelings for the blonde down to just friendly and she wondered if that was obvious to anyone but herself. Emily knew the rumors about Naomi weren't true and she couldn't imagine what everyone seemed to have against her friend. How could anyone hate Naomi? The girl was beautiful, brilliant, talented, and just perfect in Emily's eyes. The sick girl finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p><span>Part 2<span>

Naomi slid silently into her spot at the back of the Geometry classroom and held her breath as she waited to see what kind of day it would be. She breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher started the class; it appeared she was off the radar today. The blonde wanted to ask Katie if Emily was feeling better, but that would just throw her right back into the spot light. There it was again—that strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she didn't understand it. She never felt this way when Cook went missing from school or over the summer when his family would take him out of town; not seeing Emily for four days shouldn't be any different. She ducked out of class and made her way to the bleachers.

"N…Naomi!" Sophia called as she ran to catch up to her.

"What?" Naomi sighed as she turned to face the dark haired girl.

"I was just…Emily is still out and…I…" the girl stammered.

"Yeah…and?" The blonde said with a little irritation. It occurred to her that she would like Sophia more if she would just be up front about what she was thinking. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about the girl that irritated her.

"I thought I should take her the assignments from our classes, but I've never been to her house so…I could walk home with you…to take them too her…" she finished.

"You could just give me the assignments and I could save you all that walking…" Naomi pointed out.

"Oh…yeah…" Sophia sighed. "…I guess so…" she turned and walked away, her head down and shoulders slumped.

Cook was nowhere to be seen when Naomi took her spot under the bleachers to eat; she assumed that he must be out sick as well or possibly skipping. He had been doing a lot of that since Coach Fitch had taken over his detention. Cook thought Mr. Fitch was the devil, but Naomi had heard the twin's father talk about him when she visited Emily; he seemed to think _that __James __lad_ had a lot of potential if he could just get him to apply himself to something—and Naomi had to agree with the coach on that one. She had to admit that she was tempted to take a page from her friend's book and ditch college for the rest of the day, but the bell rang and she filed back into class none the less.

Naomi weaved her way through the halls to her locker; she could see Katie talking to Sophia down the hall. The dark haired girl pointed shyly to the blonde and retreated around the corner. Naomi rolled her eyes as the redhead made a bee line for her.

"Emily's class work," the brown eyed girl snapped.

"And hello to you too," the blue eyed girl bantered.

"I don't have all day," Katie snapped again. "So give me her class work so I can go home."

"I'll take it to her," Naomi answered. "Is she feeling any better?"

"Give me her fucking papers!" the redhead shrieked.

The blonde laughed out loud at the pointless tantrum and crossed her arms. "Or?" She said with a raised eyebrow.

"I know all about you, ya know?" Katie spat. "So whatever you think you're doing just don't."

"Don't…help her pass her classes?" Naomi said in a mock confused tone.

"You know what I'm talking about," Katie insisted.

Naomi rolled her eyes again and turned to leave—keeping a tight grip on her book bag as she did so.

"My sister isn't into skanky dykes…" the angry redhead commented. "So pretty much you're out of luck. Sorry," she added sarcastically.

The blonde took a deep breath, turned around, and blew an overly dramatic kiss at Katie.

"Give my best to Mandy will you?" she said with a wink before turning around quickly; her cheeks burned red and angry tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't look back. "And fuck you very much," she added under her breath as the door slammed behind her.

* * *

><p><span>Part 3<span>

Emily rolled over groggily in bed when she heard a light tapping at the door. "Come in…" she groaned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hey there," Naomi said as she entered, closing the door behind her. "Prepare to fall madly in love with me…I come bearing homework…"

The redhead tried to smooth out her hair as the blonde entered; her cheeks flushed and she knew she couldn't look very good at the moment.

"Still feeling pretty bad huh?" the blonde asked.

"I'm out of medicine…" Emily mumbled as she continued to try to make herself presentable. "But I think I'm getting better…"

"I can fix that." Naomi laughed as she pulled some cough drops and flu relief capsules out of her backpack. "Here…"

"Have you been sick too?" The brown eyed girl asked, eyeing the unopened medicine packages.

Naomi blushed and turned her attention to her back pack. "Uh…yeah…a little…" she lied. "So…where do you want me to put your assignments?"

Emily blinked as she looked at the thick stack of papers in her friend's hand. "Is that our new assignment?"

"No, this is all of it…your classes with Sophia too…" the blonde assured her. "Unless you have any classes without her…then Katie would have those."

"I'm surprised Katie didn't force you to bring it all home so she could go home with Arcia or Mandy…" The sick girl giggled as she leaned forward to take the stack of papers.

Naomi sighed and walked over to the window and looked down into the back yard.

"Did I miss something?" Emily asked.

"No…not really…" her friend lied again.

"She bitched at you…" the redhead decided out loud.

"What?" Naomi gasped, spinning around on the spot.

"I can tell. So what did she say?" she asked, concern showing in her brown eyes.

"Nothing really—it's not important," the blue eyed girl answered.

"It is to me…" the sick girl insisted.

"Why?" Naomi asked.

"Because you're my friend and if I'm going to be mad at my sister, I want to know exactly why…don't give me that look…I'm already going to be mad at her if she's being a cow to you..." Emily demanded.

Naomi sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor; she was trying to build her wall up enough to at least look like she didn't care what had been said. "Do I look like a dyke?"

"...fucking bitch!" the redhead squeaked and the blonde shushed her.

"It's not like I actually care Ems. It's not something I haven't heard before," Naomi soothed. "Besides, I don't care how many times she tells me to stay away from you. We're friends and it doesn't matter if people think I'm something I'm not. Fuck 'em"

"She told you to stay away from me too?" Emily moaned again before going into a fit of coughing.

"Don't die over it. Like I said I don't care…" the blonde said nervously. "It's just…I mean you know I'm not…not that it matters…but you know….and…well if you don't want to put up with all their bullshit over it, then it's ok if you don't want to hang out…"

"NO!" Emily gasped. "Fuck 'em. Just don't worry about it ok? You're better than all of them anyway."

"Ok." Naomi smiled. "You should take some medicine…I'll get you a glass of water."

The redhead smiled and mouthed a thank you as her friend disappeared into the bathroom. When Naomi was out of sight, she let out a sigh—so much for her secret hope that just maybe their friendship could be something more; the blonde had made it pretty clear that she was straight. Would she even be friends with her if she knew? Would she be afraid that Emily was going to try something? The sick girl leaned back against the pillow again and tried to focus on the fact that Naomi was her friend and could only ever be her friend and that she was lucky to have her as even that.

"When's the last time you ate?" Naomi asked as she handed Emily a small cup of water.

"Um….well…" Emily thought.

"Too long then…I'll go make you some soup…" the blonde said.

"You don't have to do that!" The redhead insisted.

"What are friends for?" Her friend laughed. "Besides, I have to get you better soon; you're the only one that loves me," she added.

"That's not true," Emily said.

Naomi put on a fake frown. "Well fine then…I thought you loved me, but I guess I was wrong." She laughed again. "I'll make you soup anyway."

As her friend jogged out the door and down the stairs, Emily took her medicine and stared at the ceiling. "You're not wrong…" she whispered. "You're not wrong."

**Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. I'm not as prepared for this story as I usually am. LOL**


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